Tag: economy

May 2, 2017

March represented a departure from February’s spending growth and a return to the two-straight months of declines in December and January. Industry observers expect construction spending to grow in 2017, with Dodge Data & Analytics economists forecasting that total construction starts could […]

April 28, 2017

The spring selling season if off to a strong start, with the average home in March going under contract in 49 days — 11 fewer days than the year before, according to Redfin. Roughly 20% of homes sold last month […]

April 25, 2017

Strong activity in the first quarter of 2017 is a sign that the construction industry is still undergoing an expansion, according to Dodge Chief Economist Robert Murray. In the coming year, he said he expects the institutional sector to see […]

April 21, 2017

​Architecture and engineering jobs, which are leading indicators of future construction activity, saw a 3.3% year-over-year increase, which is 1% higher than the February 2016-February 2017 increase reported last month. Overall construction employment was up 2.6%. Total job gains in […]

April 19, 2017

Because people tend to spend most their time indoors, particularly in their residences, their homes and neighborhoods play key roles in their overall well-being. Poor and low-income children face developmental problems and long-term damage to their physical and mental health […]

April 19, 2017

The first wave of new road projects could go out at the beginning of 2018 now that the California legislature has approved $52.4 billion over 10 years from a new 12-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax. SB-1 was approved late in the evening […]

April 14, 2017

Hotel developers are working to offset the rising cost of construction labor, driven by the latest post-recession building boom. Sources said that while prices for raw materials have seen relatively stable growth in recent years, a shortage of skilled labor […]

April 14, 2017

The rise in construction material prices likely slowed due to depressed confidence in U.S. economic growth for the coming year, according to ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu. He said in a release that reports suggest the country’s GDP for the […]

April 13, 2017

The merger between Marriott and Starwood might have been completed in late September 2016, but that was just the beginning. Since that time, owners and their asset managers have awaited confirmation that related merger expenses would be “net neutral,” as initially promised. […]

April 12, 2017

Though some buyers are demanding larger homes, overall, home sizes are decreasing as builders shift to meet the need for entry-level product. Median single-family home sizes dipped slightly from the first to the second quarters of 2016, the first post-recession […]

April 12, 2017

The Census Bureau data matches reports that have found more first-time homebuyers are relocating to the Midwest and parts of the South — particularly, Texas — in search of more stable markets and housing affordability. A recent survey by SmartAsset named […]

April 11, 2017

Construction spending increased from January to February and from a year ago, as private residential and public construction grew for the month and private-sector demand increased for the year, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. […]

April 10, 2017

The loan secured for the Brickell Flatiron may be an anomaly in today’s multifamily market, as The Wall Street Journal recently reported that some financial institutions are stepping back from taking on new, high-end multifamily projects, particularly rentals, amid a […]

April 10, 2017

While often revised in subsequent months, construction spending figures each month from the U.S. Commerce Department examine the private and public construction sectors. Within the private sector, the report tracks single-family residential, multifamily residential and nonresidential. Read More on Construction […]

April 10, 2017

The slowdown in construction employment growth follows a strong showing in the first two months of 2017, which notched almost 100,000 combined new jobs and set a record in February for the strongest recorded level since March 2007. After averaging […]

March 27, 2017

Port authorities and transportation departments all over the country are complete with or in the process of upgrading their bridges to be able to accommodate the larger post-Panamax ships designed for the new $5.4 billion Panama Canal expansion. Some ports […]

March 24, 2017

RentCafe projected that New York City (21,000), Los Angeles (20,000) and Washington, DC (18,000), are also set to add a significant number of apartment units in 2016. RentCafe reported that 51% of all new units are one-bedroom, followed by two-bedrooms […]

March 21, 2017

As a result of the ongoing labor shortage, 48% of surveyed companies said they have increased pay for hourly craft workers, 48% have ramped up in-house training, and 47% have added more overtime hours. One of the most concerning results […]

March 17, 2017

Contractors working in the Midwest, and especially in the Chicago area, have heard much about recovery. But is such chatter just idle? “Yes and no,” says Jeff Riemer, who heads up Chicago operations for Lendlease as executive vice president. “What […]

December 16, 2016

The BLS revised July’s employment numbers down from a 14,000-job gain to only an 11,000-job gain. Between April and August, the construction industry lost 25,000 net jobs after adding 68,000 between January and March, according to the Associated Builders and […]